CBS Worries Weiner's Scandal Means Obama Will Lose a Vital Critic from the Left

Asked by new CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley why Congressman Anthony Weiner "matters," CBS Capitol Hill reporter Nancy Cordes on Monday night maintained he's vital as a critic pushing Obama from the left.

"The President has a lot of critics on the right," Cordes noted, "but Weiner is one of his most outspoken critics on the left wherever liberals feel that the President is straying too far from their principles," so "it's unclear how well he's really going to be able to perform that role now, a role that even the President has said is very important."

Yes, "even" President Obama thinks it's important to be pressed from the left.

From the debut Monday night, June 6, of the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley:

SCOTT PELLEY: Nancy, help us understand why Congressman Weiner matters.

NANCY CORDES: Well, Scott, he holds kind of a unique position in the Democratic caucus. You know, the President has a lot of critics on the right but Weiner is one of his most outspoken critics on the left wherever liberals feel that the President is straying too far from their principles in the pursuit of compromise. It's unclear how well he's really going to be able to perform that role now, a role that even the President has said is very important.